SITE REVIEW: Free online file sharing site

icedteabag

Newbie

Posts: 13

3+ Months Ago

This site was made to try and generate some possible new clients for my pay site. We are doing a re-design of the pay site to look similar to the free one, so I only need feedback on the one for now. Any ideas about marketing both sites would be greatly appreciated. I know that we one of thousands doing the same thing, but it has been very profitable for us over the years with some pretty big clients. Anyway, thanks for the input.
http://free.file-works.com

murcielagossi

Proficient

Posts: 457

3+ Months Ago

I like it, the header is good...and definitly creative.

I didnt try the upload, but I think you should have them make an account first.

But no complaints from me...its nice...simple...displayed well.

And the best part...its valid..

Very Good Job

deyu

Newbie

Posts: 9

3+ Months Ago

what can i say i guess its still not fully contentd

icedteabag

Newbie

Posts: 13

3+ Months Ago

Not sure what you mean by not fully contented? Are you referring to the lack of promotion to the pay site? We actually embedded a commercial that plays when you are waiting for your file to upload.

icedteabag

Newbie

Posts: 13

3+ Months Ago

Whoops, sorry I forgot we took that out and put the ad in the email that you receive after uploading files. My bad.

spork

Brewmaster

Posts: 6256

Loc: Seattle, WA

3+ Months Ago

Hey icedteabag, ignore that post, it's just someone posting to increase their post count so that they can ask for their own review.

Anyways, I like the simple design of your site. In fact, it looks better than your main website.

Your site passed validation, nice job with that. However, your code seems to rely heavily on tables. You might want to look into going with pure XHTML/CSS.

I think the little "paper" containing your menu should be moved inward from the left margin a bit... or if you're feeling bold, try moving it outward...

Other than those small things, everything looks good. Color scheme works well and the images are nice and clear. Good job.

icedteabag

Newbie

Posts: 13

3+ Months Ago

Thanks Spork. I'll take a look at making those adjustments. The main site has been re-designed to look similar to the free one and it should go live sometime tomorrow or late tonight. We added a flash file and changed the color scheme, but it will look like the free one for the most part.

murcielagossi

Proficient

Posts: 457

3+ Months Ago

Yeah, I didnt see the main site...but the free one looks alot better.

WestPoint

Newbie

Posts: 12

3+ Months Ago

I love your free site. The graphics are great. You kind of under-promote your main site. I don't see why it can't be one of the menu items, maybe something like 'professional file works' or better yet 'secure file works'. If I hadn't gone to the FAQ page, I'm not sure where I would have found the link to you main page.

You might consider certificate services so that files can be stored in an encrypted format on your main service (this will open up potential for storage of some regulated types of files/data).

Really love the free site layout -- very clean and easy to read. Very straight to the point. Nice simple service with a nice simple presentation. Easy to remember URL.

righteous_trespasser

Scuffle

Posts: 6229

Loc: South-Africa

3+ Months Ago

Valid XHTML... nice one ...

Firstly I think it'd be good if you preload those rollover images you have in the menu, especially for people like me with slower internet connections ...

Then you can also disable the link of the page that a user is on, for example if a user is on the "How it works" page, then disable the "how it works" link and make it another colour (or rollover state) so that the user doesn't redirect to the page that he/she is already on, and that the user knows which page he/she is on ...

And on the "contact" page you should really validate that form, because I just sent you a completely empty message with no name or anything ...

spork wrote:

However, your code seems to rely heavily on tables. You might want to look into going with pure XHTML/CSS.

I agree with that ...

icedteabag

Newbie

Posts: 13

3+ Months Ago

I really appreciate all of your input, the tables issue has to do with speed of execution. We are extremely busy with some pretty heavy duty ColdFusion stuff for internal use with big clients. So thats kind of why we are using tables, it's just plain faster for us. We are programmers more into the guts of cutting edge solutions so we don't really spend time on CSS, although my design team is getting better with it.